Method of and system for obtaining water-supply



(N0 Model.) I 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

J'. LIGHT. METHOD OF AND SYSTEM FOR OBTAINING WATER SUPPLY.

No. 415,543. Patented Nov. 19, 1889..

N. PETERS. Pholo-Lilhngmpher, Washington. 0.0.

' (No Model.)

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

J. LIGHT. METHOD OF AND SYSTEM FOR OBTAINING WATER'SUIPPLY.

Patented Nov. 19, 1889.

Y UNrTnn STATES I PATENT Orricn.

JOHN LIGHT, OF GARDEN CITY, KANSAS.

M ETHOD oF AN D SYSTEM FOR OBTAINING WATER-8U PPLY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 415,543, dated November 19, 1889.

Original application filed November 19, 1888, Serial No. 291,207. Divided and this application filed June 27, 1889. Serial No. 315,773. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, JOHN LIGHT, of Garden City, Finney county, State of Kansas, have in- Vented certain new and useful Improvements in the Method of and System for Obtaining Water-Supply, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof.

My invention relates to a method of and means for obtaining a water-supply for irrigation and other purposes, and is a division, partly, of my application, Serial No. 291,207, filed November 19, 1888.

After a long acquaintance with the arid lands of the NVest, especially those of Southwestern Kansas, I have discovered what I regard as a better means of obtaining a watersupply for those now desert lands than those now commonly employed. Themethodsthat have prevailed there and elsewhere for this purpose consist of canals connected with some river or distant mountain lake with a system of drains, locks, and ditches to conduct and control the supply of water, or in providing in some instances Artesian wells or other forms of wells with which pumping machinery is used to obtain the needed supply. The great trouble of a canal system connected with the rivers of that region is, in addition to the enormous cost of construction, the constant danger of a failure of the supply by the sudden drying up or other disappearance of the river or stream/or by a destruction of the works by sudden floods, which destroy dams and locks and fill the canals with sand. The system of wells is also attended with great expense and with similar difficulties, but chiefly in their inadequacy to furnish a large extent of country with a sufficient supply of water.

My invention is adapted to a peculiar condition of the sources of Water-supply in the region of WVestern Kansas and adjacent territory, as above mentioned. In that region and extending toward the foot of the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains, and through which the Arkansas River runs, there is an immense stretch of apparently level land having a dry and hard upper surface; but this land gradually slopes on an average of about seven feet to the mile in the same direction as the course of that river; but below this hard surface, at varying depths, from a few to a hundred or more feet, there exists a vast underground sheet or lake of water, not, however, existing as one solid continuous body, but held in a vast bed or beds of gravel and sand, through which it percolates, as through a great filter. This body of water no doubt is sup plied by percolation through a vast underlying stratum of sand from the same sources as the Arkansas River-namely, the streams, rains, and melted snows from the eastern shed of the Rocky Mountains. This river itself is believed to be fed at times from this subterranean source, the water being forced up through some porous portions of its bed, and at other times, when such sources are exhausted, the river may be in turn depleted or drained by the same means. This subterranean watersheet is found not only in the neighborhood of rivers or streams, but many miles therefrom, and in the midst of the great arid tract which it underlies.

The object of my invention is to utilize these subterranean bodies of water as a source of supply for many purposes-such as irrigation, manufacturing, feeding stock, the. I accomplish this object by means of an open canal starting from a point below the sheetwater that thus underlies the gradually-slop ing land and extending the canal on a level, or at an inclination until it comes upon or above the surface of the land lying at a lower level.

The canal is constructed with porous walls or floor from its head to a point between the head and the level of the sheet-water. From the point between the head of the canal and the level of the sheet-water the canal is con structed with an impervious lining the balance of its entire course.

From and above the surface of the ground I provide the canal with a series of locks or dams, as the natural slope of the country makes possible, and sub-canals running parallel on either side of the main canal and communicating with it by means of open sluices for the purpose of carrying the water off to convenient side ditches, races, or other conduits, and also for returning surplus water from the sub-canals into the main canal, as hereinafter described.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a sectional side view of a sec-;

tion of the main canal and its source of supp ymain canal, and showing commencement and position of sub-canals. Fig. 3 is a sectional side elevation showing the different inclinations and levels of the main and sub canals;

and Figs. 4 and 5, transverse sections of main and sub canals above and below the dams,

respectively.

Referring to the drawings, A represents a slight inclination downward from saidv source to a point or points (designated by a) on or above the surface of the land A. The

main canal, from its point of connection with the subterranean supply of water 13, for a, short distancesay to b-is constructed in. the pervious soil, with its bed and walls thus porous, whereby the water may also percolate into the canal in that way; but from said point I) and for the remainder of its course the canal is constructed with an impervious lining E. The walls of the canal are also in-.: clined, the better to prevent choking or clogging by sand or other cause.

B-y reason of well-known hydrostatic principles the height of the water in the natural reservoir being maintained by the height of its own distant source of supply the depth of water in the canal will be maintained at such Q depth, proportioned to the distance the bed of the canal is made lower than the surface.

of its source of supply. I propose, therefore,

to tap the natural reservoir at such depth as A to always maintain a constant supply of water in the canal, and to provide for any overflow of the canal, when the water therein reaches the surface of the surrounding country, by an overflow ditch, well, or other excavation The point where this overflow is,

or outlet. provided for I have designated F in the drawings. Near the point F the sub-canals G lead off on either side and parallel to the main canal.

II are open sluices to permit the water fromthe main canal to pass into the sub-canals after the main canal has reached the surface of the country. I represents a dam or lock in the main canal.

Fig. 2 is a plan of another section of Such dams may be used 1 at intervals to create a head for the purpose of filling the sub-canals, and also may be used to create power for manufacturing purposes. The sub-canals follow the face of the country, although running parallel with the main canal, and at these points beyond the dams in the main canal are higher than the main canal. From the point 3 to the point t in Fig. 3, for instance, the water from the main canal flows into the sub-canals through the open sluices; but from the point t to the point 2;, for instance, the sub-canals being higher than the main canal and also higher than the surface of the country (embanked for that purpose) surplus water will flow back into the main canal, thus-carrying the water inward over the surface of the country and providing for its distribution automatically. The subcanals may be provided with small dams at intervals to regulate and control the 'flowof water therein, as may be necessary.

By the arrangement as thus described, and shown in Fig. 3, a succession of levels for the main canal is created, while the sub-canals follow the uniform slope of the country. The purposes of conducting the main canal again beneath the surface are to carry the water forward in a proper conduit to a lower point on the ground-surface, and at the same time to permit the surplus water in thesub-canals, at those points where the latter are higher than the main canal, to flow back into the main canal. I regard the employment of dams as the best way of accomplishing these objects.

It will be seen that not only does my system differ from other water-supplies in the nature of its source, but also in the manner of construction and means of distributing such supply, as I dispense with the ordinary form of canals, with their looks and gates and dams necessary in such canals and at their source, which is generally some river, and I also differ in the mode of distribution.

What I claim is- 1. A mode of water-distribution-from a natural source of supply under a gradually-sloping table-land, consisting in first tapping such supply at a point below its surface by an open main canal, leading the canal 'to or above the surface of said land at a lower point thereon, then by a .dam or dams conducting the canal again below the surface and continuing it on one or more levels to a point on or above the surface, each additiona'l'level having its bed inclined slightly downward'to give a constant current through the canal, and at the points where the water reaches said upper surface conducting the same into intercommunicating sub-canals which follow the surface of the country, substantially as described.

2. A mode of water-distribution from a natural subterranean source of supply under a gradually-sloping table-land, consisting in first tapping such supply at a point below its surface by an open main canal, leading the canal to the surface of said land at a lower point thereon, then by a dam or dams conducting the canal again below the surface and continuing it on one or more levels to a point on or above the surface, each additional level having its bed inclined slightly downward to give a constant current through the canal, at the same. time distributing the water from the said main canal through open sluices to one or more sub-canals running parallel with the main canal and constructed at a uniform slope with the land, so that the sub-canals will be at certain points lower than the main canal and at other points higher than the main canal, whereby water will automatically flow into the sub-canal at the former points and out of it into the main canal atthe latter points, substantially as and for the purpose described.

3. The combination of a main canal excavated through the dry upper surface of the ground and one or more sub canals arranged parallel to said main canal, butextending at a different inclination, said sub-canals being connected with the main canal at points intermediate of their length, substantially as and for the purpose described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

JOHN LIGHT.

\Vitnesses:

W. G. DOOLITTLE, HARRY M. EARLE. 

